ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION
Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00033774
Parties:
| Complainant | Respondent |
Parties | Fergus Browne | An Garda Síochána |
Representatives | Not represented | An Garda Síochána Industrial Relations Officer |
Complaint:
Act | Complaint Reference No. | Date of Receipt |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 7 of the Terms of Employment (Information) Act, 1994 | CA-00044601-001 | 13/06/2021 |
Date of Adjudication Hearing: 17/09/2021
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Catherine Byrne
Procedure:
This complaint was submitted to the WRC on June 13th 2021 and, in accordance with section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act 2015, it was assigned to me by the Director General. I conducted a remote hearing on September 17th 2021, in accordance with the Civil Law and Criminal Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2020 and Statutory Instrument 359/2020 which designates the Workplace Relations Commission as a body empowered to hold remote hearings. At the hearing, I gave the parties an opportunity to be heard and to present evidence relevant to the complaint. Mr Browne represented himself and An Garda Síochána was represented by the Industrial Relations Officer, Mr Paul Hardy. Ms Lisa Carney, an Assistant Principal Officer attended the hearing and gave evidence in support of the employer’s case.
While the parties are named in this decision, I will refer to Mr Browne as “the complainant” and to An Garda Síochána as “the respondent.”
Background:
The complainant commenced employment as a temporary clerical officer in Letterkenny Garda Station on May 31st 2021. He was found to be unsuitable for the post and his employment was terminated on June 11th 2021. On the form he submitted to the WRC outlining his complaint under the Terms of Employment (Information) Act 1994, he claims that his former employer disrespected and did not honour his contract. |
Summary of Complainant’s Case:
Outlining his case at the hearing, the complainant said that when he commenced in the job of temporary clerical officer in Letterkenny Garda Station, he was not informed that he was filling in for someone on a shorter working year. He said that he wasn’t told who he was replacing and that, when he started, he wasn’t assigned to a desk or a computer. In his written submission, he provided an outline of the work he did on each of the nine days he worked from Monday, May 31st until Friday, June 11th 2021. Monday, June 7th was a public holiday. |
Summary of Respondent’s Case:
Mr Hardy referred to the contract of employment which was issued to the complainant and which is dated May 17th 2021. He submitted that there has been no contravention of section 3(1A) of the Terms of Employment (Information) Act 1994 (“the Act”) which requires an employer to give an employee a written statement of their core terms of employment not later than five days after their commencement date. |
Findings and Conclusions:
A copy of the complainant’s contract of employment, dated May 17th 2021, was submitted in evidence at the hearing. This contains details of all the main terms and conditions of the complainant’s employment as a temporary clerical officer and is more than adequate to comply with the provisions of section 3(1) and (1A) of the Act. It is apparent from the complainant’s submission and from his evidence at the hearing that he is aggrieved at being dismissed and that he has submitted a complaint concerning a breach of the Act based on his contention that his contract was “disrespected” and “not honoured.” Unfortunately, as the sole objective of the Act is to provide for the issuing of a written statement of terms and conditions of employment, his complaint is misconceived. |
Decision:
Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act 2015 requires that I make a decision in relation to the complaint in accordance with the relevant redress provisions under Schedule 6 of that Act.
Based on the evidence submitted at the hearing, I find that the respondent complied with their obligations to issue the complainant with a written statement of his terms and conditions of employment. I decide that this complaint is not well-founded. |
Dated: 30/11/2021
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Catherine Byrne
Key Words:
Statement of terms of employment |